Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy Duffy, for bringing forward the Bill. As early as 1977 the Law Reform Commission recognised the gap in legislation and the very real challenges facing home owners who find themselves in a defective property and the challenge in trying to ascertain who is legally liable and where the blame lies, be it the builder, the subcontractor, the architect, the clerk of works, the planner, the supplier, the bricklayer, the carpenter, the electrician or whoever signed off on the job. This is the challenge facing many people at the time. The Law Reform Commission followed up on this in 1984 and drafted its own legislation but the Government of the day in its wisdom failed to act. The light touch continued and the cowboy builders and others continue to make vast profits, leaving homeowners in an impossible situation. More importantly, it left them footing the bill for any repairs.

As we know, the Celtic tiger was a free-for-all as far as shoddy construction standards and lacklustre regulation were concerned. Self-regulation and relying on goodwill and the reputation of various builders seem to be deemed sufficient. I remember a debate here once when the Taoiseach of the day stood right where the Minister of State is sitting and moaned about the kips being built in his constituency at that time. He bemoaned the fact this was allowed to continue. This was the Taoiseach of the day speaking about these buildings going up in his constituency. Interestingly, in the following election there was not a building site that did not have the same Taoiseach's poster smiling down on passers by. Thousands of families are now paying the price for the lack of effective controls. It may be tens of thousands of families. We do not know how many people are in this situation due to the lack of effective building regulations. It is heartbreaking to listen to many of these families.

Like many others, I have been inundated with call and emails about apartment defects and housing defects from local constituents. There are such defects throughout my constituency. I have spoken to people in Rathfarnham, Ballycullen and City West. There are probably other Deputies who have been contacted. We know that fire safety defects have left hundreds, if not thousands, of apartments unsafe and unable to be sold and uninsurable.

This is what people say. They cannot sell on their properties and cannot move on with their lives. Mould and dampness are rife in many developments. One development in my constituency, which was mentioned by Deputy Duffy, had balconies that had to be removed because the wooden struts had not been treated. They were rotting away and there was a fear of a collapse. How could anyone get away with that? We saw the tragedy that occurred in the US where several Irish students were killed.

Developers could do no wrong during the boom. They were a new royalty. They were given all the tax breaks and self-regulation they could want. They could bounce from one site to another, leaving fine-looking apartment blocks in many cases. In many instances, however, behind the facade was only plastering over widening cracks. We do not know what the average cost is going to be for buildings in this context. I remember talking to one group of constituents. They told me the average cost was coming in at around €25,000. Again, however, this depends on the actual apartment block concerned. I remember talking to an elderly woman who lived on her own. She was saying she was getting all these bills for fire alarms, etc. Every month, the costs seemed to be adding up. She was wondering how these people could get away with it. The names of these builders are still out there. Their sons might be running the companies, and all the rest.

In my constituency, people in the Ballycullen area have told me that they have been quoted a cost of as much as €60,000. This is just to be compliant with planning and fire safety regulations. This was the cost several months ago. I have no doubt that the figure has now probably gone up with the increasing cost of everything. Again, the developer can, apparently, just walk away. There is no comeback.

One of the greatest scams I have ever come across, and a tactic that still seems to be used, is simply changing the name of a company. There might be a new name, but the directors and board would be the same. The company might even be operating right across the road from where the previous development was. I know of a situation like this, where the name of a company was changed. Mar dhea, the company was wound down. These defective buildings, some of which we have spoken about, are actually being advertised. These companies are portraying themselves as brand-new entities and selling, and being allowed to sell, new homes. When we talk to people, they are crying and are upset. Naturally enough, they worry at night. They do not know if they are going to be made homeless. I do not see how this idea of being able to change over from one company to another can be allowed to continue. If developers throw up unsafe or unlivable buildings, they should be made to account for their actions if there is any justice at all in this State. We are legislators and our responsibility is to respond to things that have gone wrong in the past and ensure they do not happen again in the future.

One of the first commitments this Government made in the new year, last January, concerned emergency funding for essential fire safety and other works to be made available this year, as well as the publication of legislation to underpin the redress scheme before the end of the year. We are now in the second week of November and we have no emergency funding and no legislation. The Minister of State today said this would happen within weeks, but people are listening in and saying they were told this before. When is this going to happen? Again, it is being said there does not seem to be any urgency. There was no mention in the budget of this matter. Although applications in this regard will, apparently, open next year, or, as the Minister of State said, possibly within weeks, or, according to the Taoiseach, sometime, there will be no funding until budget 2025 is announced. Again, I do not hold my breath since the Government will probably try another giveaway budget of tax cuts before the next general election. Sinn Féin supports the establishment of a redress scheme for all homes impacted by the legacy of building defects from the Celtic tiger era as a matter of urgency. People cannot be left in homes that are unsafe.

This will be a costly venture, but there are no two ways about it when it comes to dealing with this issue. This is just like the mica making homes crumble like Weetabix. I am sure the Minister of State has seen the homes. I have visited those areas and seen this situation. I was up in Donegal and saw homes where the walls were like Weetabix. This is, therefore, an abject lesson about lax regulation in the construction sector. It cannot be homeowners who shoulder the burden. The blame does not fall on them, but on those who allowed the developers a free hand. My point is that there is a responsibility on the State in the context of building practices and self-certification.

As legislators, we know that there are people across the State living in unsafe, defective apartments and houses. They cannot afford to rent alternative accommodation. This is what those people have told me. In many cases, there is no other accommodation. There is nowhere to rent nearby. In many cases as well, the people concerned just do not have the money required. As I said earlier, some of these people are retired and some are pensioners who downsized. I have again spoken to these families. These people were free of mortgages and all the rest, and now they find themselves in this situation. What do we do? These people live in fear of the unknown and the very real prospect of becoming homeless. This is because they are afraid of the fire officer coming to have a look at their homes and telling them they are not safe for them to live in. Where would they go then? This is one of the worries these people tell me they go to bed with. The promised supports keep moving further and further away.

I apologise for having gone on. I again offer my congratulations. The most important thing is for us to hear what the Minister of State is going to do. It is great that he is supporting this legislation, but we want to know when this is going to happen. I thank the Minister of State.

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